Literary Evolution of African American Women's Traditions Essay

As we see from her first entrance, Beneatha is a loud and outspoken character. She is a single young female living in a home with Ruth and Mama. Quite similar as characters, they share traditional values and believe women should care for the wellbeing of their family. Ruth and Mama take pride in doing domestic service work as their source of income and are continuously seen putting their children’s needs before theirs. Hansberry uses Beneatha’s character to contradict these values and introduce a character with modern feminist views. Beneatha fiercely fires back to anyone who questions her life goals. She is constantly found bickering with Walter about her dream of becoming a doctor. She is reminded by him that “girls” shouldn’t be doctors. Beneatha voices her feelings on male dependency when she mentions to Mama and Ruth “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet - if I ever get married”, and they respond with a shocked “if!”(50). The idea of a woman not wanting to get married was shocking to Mama and Ruth. Beneatha feels that she does not need to be dependent on a man; she has one goal, to become a doctor. She does not need a man in her life, she feels perfectly

Beneatha, being somewhat of an outcast, understands that she does not have to follow the status quo of her society by becoming a housewife, so she decides to work hard in order to become a doctor. Beneatha wants to fulfill this dream because she realizes that she enjoys helping people, as she explains to Asagai after the money is stolen, “That was what one person could do for another, fix him up — sew up the problem, make him right again” (III.i.900). Beneatha wishes to help people by taking care of them and ridding them of their problems. She does not want to become the typical, by standing woman that is not able to help if there is a dilemma. Even after Willy runs off with all of the money, Asagai offers Beneatha a way to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. Beneatha reveals this wonderful opportunity to Mama as they exit their apartment, “To go to Africa, Mama -- be a doctor in Africa”

Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor, and while Mama has no hesitation about funding her education, it is the ideas that come along with this goal that cause her mother strife. As she becomes more and more outspoken, Beneatha loses her belief in God and religion. She admits to her horrified mother that “God is just one idea [she] does not accept” (page 51). Beneatha goes on to inform her mother that it is solely man who performs miracles (page 51). Mama is then obligated to pick whether to reinforce her long-held religious beliefs or allow her daughter to form her own opinions. By not accepting Beneatha’s atheistic ideas, Mama surely knows that she will be effectively squashing her daughter’s growing sense of identity. This undoubtedly caused her to question whether or not she should intervene. Of course, as in Walter’s case, Mama’s concrete ethics end up taking precedence over any loss of individuality. As a result, Beneatha is forced to repeat like a child that “In [her] mother’s house there is still God,” (page 51). Having to conform to her mother’s beliefs strips Beneatha of much of her dignity and obstructs her growth into a mature woman who can think for herself, which is an effect that no parent would want to have. However, at this point in the play, Mama is still being won over by her morals and chooses to impose her will

The aim of the thesis is to analyze and discuss the African American women`s quest for voice, acceptance and fulfilment. The analysis will be based on three selected novels, namely, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Color Purple and Beloved. Since their authors - Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker all - experienced some difficulties in their life related to the subject matter of the thesis, their biographies will be sketched, too. The analysis focuses especially on three women who are the protagonists of the selected novels. Their personal and social problems will be juxtaposed within the context of the criticism selected for the purpose of this thesis.

In the poem the mother is talking to her son in the film the mother named Lena Younger speak to her son behar husband and herself for today annandale to provide this might scare the future is reflected in the palm through the word. Lena represents the mother in the poem as she is one of the people that has slaved her life over working to provide for her kids. The conflict seen in the poem is represented by Lena having issues with the actions of her son and daughter. Walter is trying to pen a liquor store a practice that she sees as dishonest and when her daughter-in-law mentions that she is planning to have an abortion she expects Walter to decline, but surprisingly he says nothing and walks away causing her to voice her disappointment. She also has issues with her daughter

Beneatha is intrigued by Asagai’s culture and his firm belief in his Nigerian heritage, and she somewhat longs to find this dedication and interest in her own ancestors and native culture. Asagai comes over to the house to give Beneatha authentic Nigerian robes, and the two continue to talk. Asagai helps her put on the robes and then comments saying, “You wear it well… very well… mutilated hair and all” (Lansberry 61). Beneatha is quite shocked when he says this, and responds asking, “My hair- what’s wrong with my hair?” Asagai alludes to the fact that Beneatha straightens her hair, instead of letting it be curly and crinkly as a black woman’s hair should naturally be. Beneatha’s tendency to straighten her hair elaborates on the fact that she is struggling to find her identity and camouflages any indications of her

Beneatha is probably one of the most independent and individual characters in the play. She does not worry about the prejudice her community has about her. She is confident in herself, her abilities, and her intellect. She tries to be independent by not allowing anybody to help her. When she first hears about the insurance money she does not want any help from it. When Walter suggest that mama could use a little bit of the money to help Beneatha out with the cost of college, Beneatha responds by saying, “I have never asked anyone around here to do anything for me” ( Hansberry 281). Beneatha refuses help from others, because she feels that doing everything on her own will make her a stronger woman. She presumes that asking for assistance for anything in life will make her weaker. She does not understand how dependent she is on others until she starts dating George Murchison and joseph Asagai.

Beneatha is a young college student, she is independent and in the play she provides a feminist stance by her desire to become a doctor. The reader notices that she searches for her identity. She dates two guys, Joseph and George. She is happier with Joseph, but she gets criticism from him because she does not want to marry him. Beneatha does not want to be dependent on anybody, which is contradicted by the fact she relies on insurance money from her father’s death and the investments made by her brother. She struggles to break free from this dependency and at the end of the play she represents a strong independent female. On the other side we have Lena, who is still a traditional woman with believes and provides a perspective from an older generation. In the movie I think Ruth is the more modern woman, because of the

The racism-steeped social system negatively affects African-American males and females, causing deeply rooted issues. The three women in the story, Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama, represent the different views Black women took during these troublesome times. There were women like Beneatha, who didn’t want to live the typical life of a wife and mother, and openly disapproved the assimilation of Blacks into American culture as well: “Because I hate assimilationist Negroes!” (Hansberry 1500). She wanted to become highly educated, and to change the world somehow. She wanted to be something. Beneatha is a very strong-willed, hard-headed character. This could very well have been caused by the unfair rules of her time constantly being reiterated to her through several mediums. Over and over again she is told that she must

Mama says this after Beneatha tells Mama that there is nothing left in her brother, Walter to love. Mama’s dream of a better quality of life is deferred because she has carry the responsibility of tending to a family with so much indifference and of holding together the few pieces of her family left together.

All in all, Beneatha is a very provocative person. Beneatha stands up to others because she disagrees with them. Then, she tells Mama her honest opinions about religion. Beneatha also wants to be a doctor. All of this is provocative because it causes strong reactions, but she does not care because she is not easily influenced by others opinions. Beneatha has a provocative personality because she doesn't care what others will think about her. Beneatha is a bold character because she isn't afraid to speak her

     Family values are the context of Mama’s second nurturing lesson to Beneatha. After a conflictive encounter with her brother, Beneatha expresses a lack of respect and love for Walter. Lena Younger first quickly ensures that she correctly heard her daughter. Although Mama does not come across as gentle as she has in the past, her

Beneatha is an independent woman with great ambition. She always stands up for her beliefs and ideas no matter how contradict others. Beneatha is a fox, she is clever and, a quick thinker, she stays true to herself. When talking about her future Beneatha states, “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet--if I ever get married… I couldn’t be bothered with that. I am going to be a doctor, and everybody around here better understand that” (Hansberry, page 32). Beneatha is already sure of herself and what she wants to be in life. This encounter between her family is a defining moment for her character it shows how serious she is about her future. She also is not afraid to speak about her beliefs no matter the consequence. For example, ”God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important. I am not going out and be immoral or commit crimes

Throughout this course we discussed the Jazz Age, cultural appropriation, racial and gender differences, and African Americans and Parisians during the interwar years. We looked at many African American performers and performances that had a huge impact on France’s cultural identity. After learning about all of this in class, I wanted to take my research further. I decided to research female foreign performers who have had a major influence on the Jazz Age in Paris. I decided to focus specifically on three foreign females, and they are: singer and dancer Josephine Baker, dancer Molly Spotted Elk, and dancer Ada “Bricktop” Smith. Each of these female performers had a large impact on taking the Jazz Age in Paris to another level.

Beneatha and Mama’s dreams are separated because of Beneatha’s dreams of becoming a doctor. Female doctors in the 1950s were seen not as accredible in their field. When Ruth tells Mama about her appointment for her pregnancy and the female doctor she went to, Mama says, "She—What doctor you went to? "(61). To Mama going to a female doctor is seen as giving up the baby which is the worst thing possible in Mama's mind. Mama undermines Beneatha as a doctor or any other female doctor because Mama was raised in a generation where the workforce was dominated by men while women were housewives. Another choice Mama disagrees with is Beneatha choice to not get married. Mama pesters Beneatha many times about marriage, but Beneatha never agreed. This was shown when Beneatha said, “I'm going to be a doctor. I'm not worried about who I'm going to marry-if I ever get married” (50). Beneatha wants to be a strong independent female doctor and not a housewife; besides, Mama believes that women should be married; nevertheless, they should not take on such a male dominated job. Many times Mama pushes Beneatha to marry a rich man, George Murchison, instead of supporting her dreams because Beneatha’s dreams are not the traditional life style. Beneatha pushes through Mama's beliefs on marriage and female doctors to still continue her dreams of being a doctor.